Kenyan Mother Raising Ksh 150M to Save Son Facing Execution in Saudi Arabia; Embassy Intervenes

Veteran journalist Dorothy Kweyu (left) and her son stephen bertrand munyakho
Veteran journalist Dorothy Kweyu (left) and her son stephen bertrand munyakho
Photo
BringBackStevo

The Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh threw its weight behind the efforts of Dorothy Kweyu who is seeking to raise Ksh150 million to save her son from the hangman's noose.

The Embassy shared the mother's appeal in which she is trying to raise Ksh150 million to secure the release of her son, Stephen Bertrand Munyakho aka Stevo, by May 15.

Munyakho, who has been behind bars in Saudi Arabia since 2011, risks facing the hangman should the family fail to raise the money.

Munyakho was arrested and convicted of the death of a Yemeni national after they engaged in a fight that left the latter dead.

Inside the Shimeisi Prison in the Governorate of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Inside the Shimeisi Prison in the Governorate of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Photo
Saudi Gazette

His mother, who is also a veteran journalist in Kenya, revealed that her son did not intend for the death to happen.

According to the appeal, the Yemeni family of the deceased stepped back on their reciprocal right to revenge.

"While appreciating the victim's family for stepping back, we still have to fulfill the court's order to pay the equivalent of Ksh150 million by May 15, 2024, for him to be released.," read the appeal in part.

"The execution is too terrible to contemplate. Therefore, we appeal to you all to help us raise this amount."

Kweyu, who has been fighting for the release of her son, revealed that Munyakho has spent a total of 13 years at the Shimeisi Prison in the Governorate of Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he is incarcerated.

The fight occurred on April 9, 2011, as Munyakho worked in Saudi Arabia before the son was taken behind bars the next day.

“My son was sentenced to death by the sword, but this would not be carried out immediately because a child from the Yemeni family was involved," Kweyu told the press in March this year.

"He had to be 18 to have a say on the execution of his father’s killer, I was later told.”

She was later given a financial compensation option under Islamic Law which allows the aggressor's family to pay a certain amount of money to the victim's family.

A man's hand cuffed inside a police cell
A man handcuffed inside a police cell
Photo
kittirat roekburi
  • . . . .